Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 6.djvu/474

442 when intelligence reached him that a general of the emperor, who had received secret orders, had just attacked the garrison of Vera Cruz and killed several of his soldiers. The head of one of the Spaniards was sent to the capital. This event tmdeceived the Mexicans, who had hitherto believed the Spaniards to be immortal, and necessarily altered the whole policy of Cortes. Struck with the greatness of the danger, surrounded by enemies, and having only a handful of soldiers, he conceived and instantly executed a most daring project. Having repaired with his officers to the palace of the emperor, he announced to Montezuma that he must either accompany him or perish. Being thus master of the person of the monarch, he next demanded that the Mexican general and his officers who had attacked the Spaniards should be delivered into his hands ; and when this had been done he caused these unfortunate men, who had only obeyed the orders of their sovereign, to be burned alive before the gates of the imperial palace. During this cruel execution Cortes entered the apartment of Montezuma, and caused him to be loaded with irons, in order to force him to acknowledge himself a vassal of Charles V. The unhappy prince yielded, and was restored to a semblance of liberty on presenting the fierce conqueror with 600,000 marks of pure gold, and a prodigious quantity of precious stones. Scarcely had he reaped the fruits of his audacity, however, when he was informed of the landing of a Spanish army, under Narvaez, which had been sent by Velasquez to compel him to renounce his command. In this emergency Cortes acted with his usual decision and courage. Leaving 200 men at Mexico, under the orders of his lieutenant, he marched against Narvaez, whom he defeated and made prisoner, and he then enlisted under his standard the Spanish soldiers who had been sent to attack him. On his return to the capital, however, he found that the Mexicans had revolted against the emperor and the Spaniards, and that dangers thickened around him. Montezuma perished in attempting to address his revolted subjects ; upon which the latter, having chosen a new emperor, attacked the head-quarters of Cortes with the utmost fury, and, in spite of the advantage of fire-arms, forced the Spaniards to retire, as the only means of escaping destruction. Their rearguard, however, was cut in pieces, and they suffered severely during the retreat, which was continued during six days. Elated with their success, the Mexicans offered battle in the plain of Otumba. This was what Cortes desired, and it proved their destruction. Cortes gave the signal for battle, and, on the 7th of July 1520, gained a victory which decided the fate of Mexico. Immediately afterwards ho proceeded to Tlascala, assembled an auxiliary army of natives, subjected the neighbouring provinces, and then marched a second time against Mexico, which, after a gallant defence of several months, was retaken on the 1 3th of August 1521. These successes were entirely owing to the genius, valour, and profound but unscrupulous policy of Cortes ; and the account of them which he transmitted to Spain excited the admiration of his countrymen. The extent of his conquests, and the ability he had displayed, effaced the censure which he had incurred by the irregularity of his operations ; and public opinion having declared in his favour, Charles V,, disregarding the pretensions of Velasquez, appointed him governor and captain-general of Mexico, at the same time conferring on him the valley of Guaxaca, which was erected into a rnarquisate, with a con siderable revenue. But although his power was thus con firmed by royal authority, and although he exerted himself to consolidate Spanish domination throughout all Mexico, the means he employed were such that the natives, reduced to despair, took arms against the Spaniards. This revolt, however, was speedily subdued, and the Mexicans were everywhere forced to yield to the ascendency of European discipline and valour. Guatimozin, who had been recognized as emperor, and a great number of caciques, accused of having conspired against the conquerors, were publicly executed, with circumstances of great cruelty, by order of Cortes. Meanwhile the court of Madrid, dreading the ambition and popularity of the victorious chief, sent commissioners to watch his conduct and thwart his pro ceedings ; and whilst he was completing the conquest of New Spain his goods were seized by the fiscal of the Council of the Indies, and his retainers imprisoned and put into irons. Indignant at the ingratitude of his sovereign, Cortes returned in person to Spain to appeal to the justice of the emperor, and appeared there with great splendour. The emperor received him with every mark of distinction, and decorated him with the order of St lago. Cortes returned to Mexico with new titles but diminished authority, a viceroy having been intrusted with the administration of civil affairs, whilst the military depart ment, with permission to push his conquests, was all that remained to Cortes. This division of powers became a source of continual dissension, and caused the failure of th3 last enterprizes in which he engaged. Nevertheless, in 1536, he discovered the peninsula of California, and surveyed a part of the gulf which separates it from Mexico. At length, tired of struggling with adversaries unworthy of him, whom the court took care to multiply, he returned to Europe, hoping to confound his enemies. But Charles V. received him coldly. Cortes dissembled, redoubled the assiduity of his attendance on the emperor, accompanied him in the disastrous expedition to Algiers in 1541, served as a volunteer, and had a horse killed under him. This was his last appearance in the field, and if his advice had been followed the Spanish arms would have been saved from disgrace, and Europe delivered nearly three centuries earlier from the scourge of organized piracy. Soon afterwards Ii3 fell into neglect, and could scarcely obtain an audience. One day, however, having forced his way through the crowd which surrounded the emperor s carriage, and mounted on the door-step, Charles, astonished at an act cf such audacity, demanded to know who he was. &quot; I am n, man,&quot; replied the conqueror of Mexico proudly, &quot; who has given you more provinces than your ancestors left you cities.&quot; This haughty declaration of important services ill- requited could scarcely fail to offend a monarch on whom fortune had lavished her choicest favours ; and Cortes, overwhelmed with disgust, withdrew from court, passed the remainder of his days in solitude, and died, near Seville, on the 2d of December 1554, being then in the sixty-third year of his age.

1em  CORTESE. See.  CORTONA, a city of Italy, in the province of Arezzo, and about thirteen miles south of the city of that name, occupying the summit and slope of a steep hill that, from a height of 2000 feet above the sea, overlooks the fertile valley of the Chiana or Clanis. Its ancient fortifications, which are well preserved in almost their total 